"Fellow panelist Brian Brown, the president of the National Organization
for Marriage, a non-profit group opposed to marriage equality,
represented the opposite end of the ideological spectrum. This being
New York, he was decidedly in the minority, both onstage and in terms
of the audience. Nonetheless, he held his ground, condemning what he
sees as an attempt to redefine what marriage has traditionally been.

"Nixon took issue and rebutted in one of the more poignant moments of an emotionally charged afternoon.

"'Gay people who want to marry have no desire to redefine marriage in
any way,' she said. 'When women got the vote, they did not redefine
voting. When African-Americans got the right to sit at a lunch counter
alongside white people, they did not redefine eating out. They were
simply invited to the table. And that is all we want to do. We have no
desire to change marriage. We want to be entitled to not only the same
privileges, but the same responsibilities as straight people.'

"If the California case eventually makes it to the Supreme Court,
Boies has little doubt regarding the outcome, despite the court’s
current political partisanship.

“'Properly explained, this is not liberal or conservative, Republican or
Democratic,' he said. 'This is something that all Americans who believe
in the Constitution ought to be behind. I think if it gets to the
Supreme Court, we have a good chance of convincing them.'

"Regardless of the issue’s future legal trajectory, Boies maintains
that someday, due to a shift in generational mores, this will no longer
be an issue."